Just Status Quo
by meekshallinherit
Summary: Audrey tries to make an important day special for her co-worker. It's a little hard when her boss couldn't care less.


Though it was a few minutes past the shop's closing time, Audrey was relieved to find the door still open and Mr. Mushnik still inside. She wasn't late to work this time, since it was technically her day off. But since it had fallen on something important, she was determined to make a quick visit. Not that it was particularly easy when she had an impatient date waiting outside. She'd become good at sensing when a guy was losing interest, and she had a feeling things wouldn't be going on much longer between them. But it hardly seemed to matter, when she felt sure that the best she could hope for was another guy just like him to take his place. After spending the day with him, stepping into the shop for even a moment was like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, they still had plans for the night, and he wasn't particularly happy about being made to wait. She'd have to do this in a hurry.

"Hello Mista' Mushnik, sorry it's afta' closing time, but-"

"I would tell you you're later than usual, but you're off a day." He interrupted her. "Come back tomorrow."

"Oh, I know I don't have to work today. I just wanted to stop by for a second."

Her boss crossed his arms and gave her a strange look, as if he couldn't begin to fathom why anyone would be there when they didn't have to be. Audrey suddenly got the sinking feeling he didn't remember that anything important might be going on.

"So… big day today, isn't it?" She tried prompting him. She could hear a motorcycle revving outside, harshly reminding her that someone was waiting, and she nervously adjusted the small napkin-wrapped bundle in her hands.

Mr. Mushnik didn't show any sign of realizing what she was talking about, but apparently thought the conversation would be over faster if he didn't admit to it. "Yeah, sure."

Hoping she was imagining it, Audrey tried again. "Got anything planned?"

He scowled slightly, whether in confusion or annoyance she couldn't tell. "Should I?"

"Well, it does seem like you ought to do something, don't you think?"

She got the strong sense he wanted to roll his eyes. After a moment of consideration, he gave a defeated shrug. "Alright, I give up. What are we talking about?"

Audrey quickly forced out a small laugh. "That's funny, Sir." Much to her disappointment, he continued to stare at her blankly. "Come on, you know…"

Her boss shrugged again. "Look, is it something people are going to come in and buy flowers for?"

"Well… no, but-"

He had clearly already stopped paying attention. "Then I don't care."

With that, he was off to go retrieve his newspaper from the spot where he'd last left it.

Audrey sent a quick glance around the shop, trying to see if she could spot where her co-worker had gone. She didn't know if he was anywhere within earshot, but she was worried his feelings would be hurt if he overheard. She made a mental note to be sure to remind her boss ahead of time in the future. A moment later, her thoughts were interrupted with another roar of the motorcycle and a command to "Come on, move it already!" Why did every guy she seemed to attract like motorcycles so much? She really hated those noises.

Against all of her survival instincts, Audrey stayed where she was, and carefully tried to fill in Mr. Mushnik without making it any more clear that he'd forgotten. "So, uh… is Seymour around? I wanted to wish him a happy birthday."

Mr. Mushnik was at most giving her half of his attention, probably not even that. He was mostly busy with thumbing through the paper. He seemed to realize he left the page he wanted back in his office, and began wandering back to get it. "He's in his room. Messing around with some new plant, I think."

Audrey bit her lip as he disappeared behind the door, wondering if she had time to go stop by the basement. A far more profanity-laced command to hurry came from outside, and she decided that she definitely did not. Instead, she rushed to leave the makeshift package she'd bought on the counter. She worried it wasn't nearly enough. It seemed less special when she hadn't made it herself. But as much as she wished she could cook like Betty Crocker, she didn't have a decent enough kitchen to try anything of the sort. She could only hope Seymour wouldn't mind store-bought.

"Mista' Mushnik, I really have to go. Can you tell Seymour I left something on the counta' for him?" She called out to her boss, having to raise her voice to a near-shout to be heard over the aggressive noises the motorcycle was now making. The only response was a distracted grunt, and she rather doubted Mr. Mushnik was paying any attention anymore. But she didn't dare to linger any longer, and figured Seymour would probably find it on his own anyway.

Shortly after she had hurried out of the shop again, Mr. Mushnik came back out of his office, sports pages in hand. He was headed towards his usual chair when he spotted the brownie sitting on the counter. As Audrey expected, he hadn't been paying nearly enough attention to know what it was for, nor did he particularly care. With a casual shrug, he picked it up, and had already crammed half of it into his mouth by the time he sank into his chair.

He had hardly settled into place when the door to the basement opened. Seymour was quite sure he had heard a familiar voice, and he nearly tripped over his own feet in his excited haste to rush into the shop. "Was that Audrey? Is she here?"

Through a full mouth, Mr. Mushnik responded with, "Already missed her, kid." He only looked up long enough to see his employee's face fall. "Oh, stop pouting. It's not like you don't see her all the time."

"I know, but…." Seymour began hesitantly. "Did she happen to say why she came by?"

Mr. Mushnik let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know. Something about leaving something on the counter. She probably forgot her sweater again."

Seymour tried not to let his disappointment show even more. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, was all. Audrey had to have much more important things to spend her time thinking about.

Mr. Mushnik glanced up at him over the top of his paper. "Did you want something, or are you still up here because you felt like bothering me?"

His shoulders slumped. "No, sir."

On the staircase back to the basement, Seymour tried to keep his mind on the positive. After all, he did have a new plant to look after. He always enjoyed identifying one of the strange cuttings he'd buy in the wholesale flower district whenever he decided to run down there during his break. This time, he'd picked up a fairly small, leafy sort of thing, though he'd need some more information to see how much bigger he could expect it to get. He was pretty sure it was some sort of fern, and it had interesting leaves that were sort of crinkled around the edges. After a few minutes of thumbing through his books, he found a picture that seemed to match.

"Ah, here we are." He said cheerfully. He held the book out towards the plant, as if he thought it would want to read what was on the page. "_Asplenium Scolopendrium_, also known as the Hart's Tongue Fern. That means you like medium levels of water, slightly acidic soil, and partial to full shade." He put the book down and picked up the can. "Not to big on sunlight then, are you? You've come to the right place then. It doesn't get much darker than down here."

With that information discovered, he carefully selected a location that wouldn't be too close to any of the lights and slid the can into place.

"So…" With the mystery of his new plant solved, Seymour found himself with nothing to do but sit down on his bed and fidget with his thumbs. "This is fun."

He knew he shouldn't complain. What had he been expecting, anyway? Today had never been different from any other day. Just because it was the first year she was here didn't mean he should have expected anyone to remember. And honestly, it really wasn't that he cared whether or not she did. It was just that being on his own today made things feel lonelier than usual.

"I wish Audrey were here." He found himself thinking out loud. He quickly glanced over at his plants and added, "No offense. It's just that, you know, talking with her is a little more two-sided."

It probably would have been a little better if he'd found something more unusual, so it would have taken him longer to find what it was. There hadn't been anything too out-of-the-ordinary there that day, but he had an empty can, and the day had been terrible enough without coming home empty handed. He'd decided he might as well take what he could get. Maybe someday he'd find something so bizarre that it wouldn't even show up in any of his books. Wouldn't that be something?

Still, his plants could only do so much to keep him company. They listened, at least, but it wasn't the same as having someone he could talk with, instead of just talking at. Audrey was always great to talk with. He loved to hear anything she had to say, and she never seemed to mind listening to him. He'd started to feel like he could tell her just about anything. Man, he missed her.

Even if he had any candles to blow out, he didn't have any reason to assume it would make anything happen. He knew what he'd wish for if he could, though. But maybe it was selfish to wish she were there so much. She'd probably rather be anywhere else than stuck in this shop, especially in his dingy little basement room. He decided that he'd just wish she was having a good night instead. Maybe it had turned out to be nothing more than the usual depressing sort of day, but at least he could see her tomorrow. That would have to make things a million times better than today.


End file.
